Episode 1393: Wobbles and Squabbles
Date June 25, 2019 Summary Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller banter about Albert Pujols’ touching return to St. Louis, the Dodgers’ deceptive Will Smith walk-off and the reason for the proportional increase in non-pulled home runs, Commissioner Manfred’s latest comments about the ball and dingers, Newsday beat writer Tim Healey’s clubhouse confrontation with Jason Vargas and Mets manager Mickey Callaway, and the possibly pivotal PED suspension of Oakland’s Frankie Montas. Then they revisit two Sullivan-era chats about “baseball IQ” and whether facing death would make baseball teams better, pass judgement on an alleged Mariners-related fun fact, provide an update on Dylan Bundy’s periodic inattention to baserunners, and discuss the causes of the persistent poor performance of relievers relative to starters and the continued democratization of saves. Topics * Episode 1375 follow-up: Reviewing 'Is This Guy Good' and bullpen trends * Poor performance of relievers relative to starters * Does 'the hot hand' really exist in baseball? * Episode 1376 follow-up: Reliever usage and the opener * Democratization of saves Intro The Beach Boys, "Angel Come Home" Outro The Coral, "Come Home" Banter * Ben and Sam discuss how much they enjoyed watching Albert Pujols' return to St. Louis. They also revisit the story of how the Cardinals drafted Pujols. * The Dodgers swept the Rockies, winning each game on a walk-off home run by a rookie. They discuss Will Smith's surprising walk-off home run and the increase in non-pulled homers. * Rob Manfred's comments about changes to the core of the baseball. * Frankie Montas was suspended 80 games for PED use. * Reporter Tim Healy's confrontation with Mickey Callaway and Jason Vargas * Sam continues to listen to past episodes of the podcast featuring Jeff Sullivan. * Episode 1330 follow-up: Revisiting what baseball IQ is * Players noted for having a high baseball IQ * Episode 1328 follow-up: Team performance when facing death * Seattle Mariners home-run fun fact * Episode 1391 follow-up: stealing a base before the pitch was delivered Email Question * Zach: "Over the past few years I’ve noticed the increase of homers to the opposite field and wanted to know if it is truly an increase or a change in hitting styles. I find this especially interesting as there has been an increase in strikeouts, so you’d think there would be more hit to the pull side." Notes * This season 41.5% of home runs have been hit to center or the opposite field. In 2011 this was 26.4% of home runs. * Sam continues to listen to past episodes of the podcast featuring Jeff Sullivan. * Sam found that most instances of baseball IQ in media made reference to players in high school or lower professional levels. It was used often to indicate maturity among players. * Dylan Bundy was the pitcher in both of the recent instances of players stealing a base before a pitch was thrown * 125 players have earned a save this year, more than the entire 2009 season. Links * Effectively Wild Episode 1393: Wobbles and Squabbles * Picking between peak Pujols or Trout today, who's better? by Bradford Doolittle * Albert Pujols' first at-bat back at Busch Stadium * Albert Pujols' home run at Busch Stadium * The Late Greats by William Fleitch * Will Smith's walk-off home run * Possible difference in the baseball a bitter pill for pitchers by David Lennon * Newsday's Tim Healey explains incident with Mets manager Mickey Callaway by David Lennon * The Year of Bad Bullpens: MLB's Pitching Model Is Broken by Tom Verducci * Baseball's 'Hot Hand' Is Real by Rob Arthur and Greg Matthews * Clay Dreslough's comments on Baseball Mogul dynamics Category:Episodes